I live in the United States of America and here we have a pay to play or live system. Capitalism is the economic and political system we use in the United States. Capitalism has created a pretty big gap between the haves and have nots in the United States. Over the past 20 – 30 years the United States has become the one of the most unequal countries in the world. The United States is the most unequal rich country in the world. Because of the inequity things like the lottery have grown in popularity by leaps and bounds. State lotteries are the most popular forms of gambling in the United States. About 18% of the United States citizens play the lottery on a monthly basis.
As I type this post there is a drawing tonight that will award the winner (if there is one, often no one guesses the right numbers) over 170 million dollars. 170 million dollars is a pretty large amount of money and would be life changing. An exercise that I am sure is done by everyone who buys a lottery ticket is a what if type of exercise.
What if I won the lottery? What would I do if I wasn’t trapped in this system? I think the exercise is fun for the first few minutes, then you begin to realize that you are trapped in a pretty awful system.
I think the lottery can be fun and is fun but capitalism is not. Capitalism is brutal and corrupt and continues to be brutal and corrupt.
A great way to beat capitalism is through charity and helping others. Here is a super interesting post about how 5 lottery winners stuck their fingers in the eye of capitalism. link to blog post
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
Maya Angelou
The Corrigan Encore 